Category: Word of the Day

Definition: (adjective) Having or consisting of woolly hairs.

Synonyms: woolly.

Usage: The woolly aphid has a lanate coat resembling cotton.

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Definition: (adjective) Characterized by unusual lightness and delicacy.

Synonyms: gossamer.

Usage: The birdwatchers longed to see the smallest and most ethereal of birds but found only a family of common pigeons.

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Definition: (adjective) Located away from or on the opposite side of the axis, as of an organ or organism

Synonyms: dorsal.

Usage: The abaxial surface of the leaf was covered in stomata, tiny pores that allow the exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen between the internal tissues of the plant and the outside atmosphere.

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Definition: (adjective) Expressing extreme contempt.

Synonyms: contemptuous, insulting, scornful.

Usage: She cast one disdainful look at Moody, without troubling herself to express her contempt in words.

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Definition: (adjective) Seen by the eye.

Synonyms: visual.

Usage: The evidence that the house is haunted is of two kinds: the testimony of disinterested witnesses who have had ocular proof, and that of the house itself.

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Definition: (adjective) Marked by uncontrolled excitement or emotion; ecstatic.

Synonyms: excited, frantic, mad, unrestrained.

Usage: A crowd of delirious baseball fans cheered the home team to a shutout victory.

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Definition: (adjective) Broadly or extravagantly humorous; resembling farce.

Synonyms: ludicrous, ridiculous.

Usage: The clown, with his farcical exuberance, rainbow striped hair, and poorly timed gags, drew enthusiastic applause and laughter from the audience.

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Definition: (noun) An abrupt failure of function or complete physical exhaustion.

Synonyms: collapse.

Usage: The weakness of the young missionary became so extreme that they had to lay him again on the bed, where a prostration, lasting for several hours, held him like a dead man.

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Definition: (adjective) Consisting of a haphazard assortment of different kinds.

Synonyms: assorted, miscellaneous, mixed, sundry.

Usage: The other occupants of the room, five in number, were all females, and they were still sleeping, piled high with a motley array of silks and furs.

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Definition: (verb) To remove from association; separate.

Synonyms: disjoint, disunite, divorce.

Usage: The senator dissociated herself from the organization when she found out that its president had been involved in an embezzlement scheme.

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